This invention relates to a composition comprising a branched, nonionic alkoxylate surfactant.
Currently, there is a strong market preference for surfactants that are readily biodegradable and environmentally acceptable. Alkyl phenol ethoxylate (APE) is commonly used in textile, cleaning, and agrochemical formulations, among other applications. However, due to stricter environmental regulation, the use of APE type surfactant is drastically declining. Suppliers are positioning to provide other surfactants to replace APE.
Branched alcohol alkoxylate surfactants are widely accepted as an alternative to APE surfactants. For example, LUTENSOL™ XP, a surfactant manufactured and sold by BASF comprising ethylates of alkyl polyethylene glycol ethers based on the C10-Guerbert alcohol, is a benchmark in textile pretreatment process. However, while the APE-free surfactants have good performance profiles in some selected applications, they are not ideal for a variety of applications which require low surfactant concentration, such as those requiring a concentrations less than 1 gram/Liter (g/L). Thus, what is needed is to improve the branched alcohol alkoxylate surfactant performance at low concentration.